# 2011 BCS National Championship Game

The 2011 BCS National Championship Game (branded as the 2011 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game for sponsorship reasons) was a college football bowl game to determine the national champion of the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season. The finale of the 2010–2011 Bowl Championship Series was played at the University of Phoenix Stadium, the host facility of the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, on January 10, 2011 (8:30 p.m. ET).
The Auburn Tigers from the Southeastern Conference faced the Oregon Ducks of the Pacific-10 Conference for the national championship. The Ducks were seeking to win their first national championship in school history. A 19-yard field goal by Wes Byrum, as time expired, won the game for the Tigers, with the final score 22–19. It was the Tigers' second title recognized by the University (three being unclaimed) and first since 1957.
The game was the first BCS National Championship Game not televised on network television, instead being aired on ESPN and simulcast on ESPN3, and recorded a 16.1 rating, the highest overnight rating on record for a cable television program, topping the previous high of 14.4, set by New England Patriots vs. New Orleans Saints on ESPN in 2009. This marked the second time that the national championship under the BCS system was played in Arizona. It was also the first time that the BCS National Championship was streamed to a video game console, specifically the Xbox 360.

## Teams

Finishing No. 1 and No. 2 in the final BCS rankings, respectively, the Auburn Tigers from the Southeastern Conference faced the Oregon Ducks of the Pacific-10 Conference for the national championship. Both teams finished the regular season undefeated. The Coaches Poll, which partially factored into the BCS rankings, had Oregon No. 1 and Auburn No. 2, though Auburn's higher rankings in the Harris Interactive Poll and computer polls gave them the edge for No. 1 in the BCS. The Associated Press Poll (AP), which did not factor into the BCS rankings, had Auburn No. 1 and Oregon No. 2.

### Oregon Ducks

The Ducks led the Pacific-10 Conference in scoring offense (592 points, 49.3 average), rushing offense (42 touchdowns, 303.8 yards per game), rushing defense (11 touchdowns, 117.6 yards per game), and total offense (71 touchdowns, 537.5 yards per game). The team was led by tailback LaMichael James, who tops the conference with 1,682 yards on 281 carries, 21 touchdowns and averaging 152.9 yards per game. His longest carry was for 76 yards. Jeff Maehl was Oregon's top receiver at 78.58 ypg for 12 touchdowns. Casey Matthews had averaged 6.08 tackles per game for the Ducks, followed by Spencer Paysinger (5.7), Talmadge Jackson III (5.6) and John Boyett (5.6).
Oregon was wearing the Nike new Pro Combat uniforms, their 13th uniform combination worn this season.

### Auburn Tigers

The Tigers completed the season on top of the Southeastern Conference in scoring offense (42.7 points per game), rushing offense (287.2 yards per game) and total offense (497.7 yards per game). Auburn also led the conference in pass efficiency (174 of 261 passes, 6 interceptions, 66.7%, 29 touchdowns), third-down conversions (77 of 145, 53.1%) and first downs (316 or 24.3 per game). Quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton led the conference in rushing, pass efficiency, total offense, and scoring. On the receiving end, Darvin Adams caught 48 passes for 909 yards (69.92 ypg) and 7 touchdowns. On the defensive side, Auburn was led by Lombardi Award winning, Consensus All-American defensive tackle Nick Fairly, who led the conference in sacks (11.5) and tackles for loss (24). The Tigers secondary was led by Josh Bynes, Zac Etheridge and Neiko Thorpe combined to make 199 tackles for the Tigers during the season. The Tigers were very strong in close games, having a 6–0 record in one-possession games entering the National Championship.

## Starting lineups

Selected in an NFL Draft (number corresponds to draft round)
† = 2010 All-American
| Auburn | Position | Position | Oregon |
| Offense ||||
| Darvin Adams | WR | WR | Lavasier Tuinei |
| Terrell Zachary | WR | WR | D.J. Davis |
| †Lee Ziemba 7 | LT | LT | Bo Thran |
| Mike Berry | LG | LG | Carson York |
| Ryan Pugh | C | C | Jordan Holmes |
| Byron Isom | RG | RG | C.E. Kaiser |
| Brandon Mosley 4 | RT | RT | Mark Asper 6 |
| Philip Lutzenkirchen | TE | TE | David Paulson 7 |
| Kodi Burns | WR | WR | Jeff Maehl |
| †Cam Newton 1 | QB | QB | Darron Thomas |
| Michael Dyer | RB | RB | †LaMichael James 2 |
| Defense ||||
| Nosa Eguae | DE | DE | Terrell Turner |
| Zach Clayton 7 | DT | DT | Brandon Blair |
| †Nick Fairley 1 | DT | DT | Zac Clark |
| Antoine Carter | DE | DE | Kenny Rowe |
| Josh Bynes | MLB | MLB | †Casey Matthews 4 |
| Craig Stevens | LOLB | LOLB | Spencer Paysinger |
| Daren Bates | ROLB | ROLB | Josh Kaddu 5 |
| Demond Washington | CB | CB | †Cliff Harris |
| Neiko Thorpe | CB | CB | Talmadge Jackson III |
| Zac Etheridge | FS | FS | John Boyett 6 |
| Mike McNeil | SS | SS | Eddie Pleasant |

## Game summary

Prior to the game a moment of silence was held for the victims of the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, two days before the game in which U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords was shot in the head and six others, including Federal Judge John Roll, were killed.
Despite the two teams having among the nations top offenses, neither team scored in the first quarter, with both teams punting on their opening drive. On Oregon's second drive Thomas threw an interception to Demond Washington. On the second play of the ensuing drive Newton threw an interception to Cliff Harris. On the following drive after moving the ball to the Auburn 27, Thomas threw his second interception, this time to safety Zac Etheridge. Auburn once again failed to capitalize on a Thomas interception and punted.
Early in the second quarter, Oregon scored the first points on a 26-yard field goal, to go up 3-0. Auburn then claimed the lead on an 82-yard drive, finishing with a Kodi Burns touchdown reception. Oregon responded quickly with a four-play drive, ending with a touchdown reception by LaMichael James and added a two-point conversion to make the score 11-7. The next drive, Auburn drove to the Oregon one yard line but turned the ball over on downs. Two plays later, however, Auburn tackled James in the endzone for a safety, making the score 11-9. On Auburn's final drive of the first half, Newton found Emory Blake for a 30-yard touchdown pass to make the score 16-11 at the half.
On the first drive of the 3rd quarter, Auburn kicker Wes Byrum kicked a 28-yard field goal to give Auburn a 19-11 lead. Following a pair of punts by both teams, Oregon drove to the Auburn 1 yard line, but was stopped on the goal line and lost possession.
The teams traded possession several times in the 4th quarter, until Oregon recovered a fumble on the Auburn 40-yard line with 5:05 left. Oregon then drove down the field and scored a touchdown at the 2:33 minute mark. They added a two-point conversion to even the score, 19-19.
On the game's final possession, Auburn drove 73 yards to the Oregon 1-yard line. The drive included a run by Michael Dyer, in which he appeared to be tackled after 6-7 yards, but fell on top of defender Eddie Pleasant. Since neither his knees nor the ball touched the ground, the Auburn sideline urged Dyer to continue after getting back up, and the Oregon defense finally tackled him after a 37-yard gain. The play was reviewed and the ruling on the field was upheld. Dyer then rushed for a touchdown, but a subsequent review showed that Dyer's knee went down before crossing the goal line. The touchdown was reversed and the ball placed at the Oregon 1-yard line. From there, Auburn ran the clock down to 2 seconds, and Wes Byrum kicked a game-winning 19-yard field goal as time expired, giving Auburn the national championship.

### Scoring summary

Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | Auburn | Oregon |
| 2 | 14:13 | 10 | 62 | 3:01 | Oregon | 26-yard field goal by Rob Beard | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | 12:00 | 8 | 82 | 2:13 | Auburn | Kodi Burns 35-yard touchdown reception from Cam Newton, Wes Byrum kick good | 7 | 3 |
| 2 | 10:58 | 4 | 93 | 1:02 | Oregon | LaMichael James 8-yard touchdown reception from Darron Thomas, 2-point run good | 7 | 11 |
| 2 | 3:26 | 1 | -1 | 0:18 | Auburn | LaMichael James tackled in end zone for a safety by Mike Blanc | 9 | 11 |
| 2 | 1:47 | 6 | 66 | 1:39 | Auburn | Emory Blake 30-yard touchdown reception from Cam Newton, Wes Byrum kick good | 16 | 11 |
| 3 | 11:30 | 9 | 60 | 3:30 | Auburn | 28-yard field goal by Wes Byrum | 19 | 11 |
| 4 | 2:33 | 8 | 40 | 2:21 | Oregon | LaMichael James 2-yard touchdown reception from Darron Thomas, 2-point pass good | 19 | 19 |
| 4 | 0:00 | 7 | 73 | 2:33 | Auburn | 19-yard field goal by Wes Byrum | 22 | 19 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 22 | 19 |

### Statistics

| Statistics | ORE | AUB |
| First downs | 23 | 24 |
| Total yards | 449 | 519 |
| Rushes–yards | 32–75 | 50–274 |
| Passing yards | 374 | 265 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 28–41–2 | 20–35–1 |
| Time of possession | 27:03 | 32:57 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Auburn | Passing | Cam Newton | 20/34, 265 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT |
| Auburn | Rushing | Michael Dyer | 22 carries, 143 yards |
| Auburn | Receiving | Emory Blake | 4 receptions, 54 yards, 1 TD |
| Oregon | Passing | Darron Thomas | 27/40, 363 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT |
| Oregon | Rushing | LaMichael James | 13 carries, 49 yards |
| Oregon | Receiving | Jeff Maehl | 9 receptions, 133 yards |

## Aftermath

By winning the game, Auburn was crowned as the BCS National Champion. In addition, Auburn was ranked as the number one team by the Associated Press.

## Rankings

* For the second time in BCS history, three No. 1 teams (Oklahoma, Auburn, and Oregon) were ranked in the first three standings of the year. In 1998, the first season of the BCS, UCLA debuted at No. 1, followed by Ohio State and Tennessee.
* Three teams from non-Automatic Qualify conference schools (TCU, Boise State, Utah) were ranked in the top-five at the same time after three weeks of BCS rankings. TCU ended the season as the No. 2 team and won the 2011 Rose Bowl game. TCU was picked by a postseason poll as having won a share of the national championship, due to their 13-0 perfect record and win over #4 ranked Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.